1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus provided with an imaging unit that generates an acquired image of a subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a digital camera or similar imaging apparatus is used to shoot a scene with high contrast (such as backlit shooting, or simultaneously shooting indoors and outdoors), loss of detail may occur due to insufficient dynamic range of the imaging element. In other words, the bright portions of the image may become saturated and blown out (i.e., overexposed), while the dark portions may become blocked up (i.e., underexposed). Such loss of detail can occur even when exposure control is performed.
Technology for alleviating the above defect has been disclosed, wherein an imaging apparatus generates a high dynamic range composite image by compositing a long-exposure image and a short-exposure image obtained by shooting twice with different exposure time settings (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-271368, for example). The imaging apparatus is configured to suppress overexposure by first detecting overexposure from the luminance histogram of the composite image, and then determining the short-exposure time such that overexposure does not occur.